Device for taking up the wear of pieces



DEVICE FOR IAKING UP THE WEAR OF PIECES Filed NOV. 16, 1953 Patented Feb. 19, 1935 movable with respect to another one PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR TAKING UP THE WEAR OF PIECES Gaston Lucien Debaecker, Paris, France Application November. 16, 1933, Serial No. 9 In France November 19, 1932 8 Claims. (01. 131-37) It'often occurs that, in a machine, a piece must be of a constant length. This is the case, for instance,

when said piece must periodically close an electric contact with another piece, or also when id first mentioned piece is provided with a sharp edge so as to perform some cutting operation. The piece that be either stationary 0 other piece, with which it or In is being considered may (in which case it is the moving with a translatory or rotary motion. order to suitably perform its contacting, cutting, or any other, function, the length of the pieceathat is being considered must be keptv con.- stant or at least a certain limit. Now,

must not be allowed to fall under due to the fact that it performssaid' function, the piece inquestion wears off, either as a result of friction (in the case of contact); or as a result of sharpening (in the" case of'a cuttingzedge).

It is therefore necessary, after a certain time, to take up the wear that has taken place its initial length.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device for effecting the operationabove described. Such a device is applicable whenever is desiredto take up the wear ofa piece the length of: which must remainv constant or sub- H stantially constant.

tion-of a specific example of a device according the present invention it will be supposed. that in .connectionwith a rotary 9 said device is used In the following descripknife for cutting the tube of paper filled with tobacco in a cigarette making machine in which is tube isfed-in a continuous manner. But it shouldbe well understood that the present inventionis not in,.any way limited to. this application and. that its object is a device for taking up e wear of, pieces of the type above referred to,

whatever be the machine, of which sai'dpieces are a part. V

A preferred embodimentof the presentinvention will, be hereinafter described, with reference.

the accompanyingrdrawing, given merely by way of 7 example, and in which:

Fig. 2 is an elevational ment of the vention; V

Fig. 3 is an end view of the device shown in Fig, 1 is ardiagrammatical View illustrating e principle of the invention;

device according to the present in Fig. 2.

As shown in the diagrammatical view of Fig. 1,

cooperates, that moves) i with respect to the which it-coacts may come into contact withpiece and to'bring the piece backview of an embodi A and a second elementormember B movably interconnected with respect to carrier A. According to the invention, an organ 0 .(rack, endless screw, electric control, etc.) makes it possible to displace element B with respect to element A. 9 5 This organ C is actuated by another organ D (milled knob, electric contact, etc).

On the part 'of the machine that-is intendedto coact with part A-B (that is to say the sta-' tionary part of the machine if part A'-IB is movinggor the moving part of said machine if part AB is stationary), there ismounted a. member E which, for every stroke of part'A B part'of the machine with D. 'Member may assume-two different positions: the position shown insolid lines for which it comes into contact with organ D and the position shown in dottedlines, for which it cannot act on organ D. Under theseconditions, supposing member E to be in its first mentioned, or operative, position, it is clear that it coacts with organ D at every stroke of the moving part of the machine and, through organ 0, gradually causes element A tobe displaced with respect to element B, thus increasing the totallength of part A-B.

On the other hand,a contact'member H, operatively connected with the means for moving member E, is positioned across the path of travel of the end of elementB that corresponds to the maximum length of part A-B. It will be readily understood that, as soon as element A has been moved with respect to element B a distance sulficient for restoringthe combined length of part A-B to its initial maximum value, the end of element B comes to touch contact member H and thus causes member E to be brought into its inoperative position E in which it no longer cooperates with organ D,"so thatorgan C ceases to produce a relative displacement of element B with respect to element A.

.The'device above described is brought into operation either manually, when it is judged that the wear of B exceeds the admissible value, or 45" automatically due to the vvery fact that the length ofB has decreased beyondsaid limit.

Inan embodiment of my invention, which will be hereinafter described in amore detailed manner, the means L for operatively connecting member H to member Econsist of a spring lever tending to bring back member E into its posi-' tion E, said lever being maintainedagainst the action of its spring by a pawl the upper part of Whichcomes into engagement with said lever and.

the lower part of which constitutes contact member H or is controlled by said contact member.

The specific embodiment of the present invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is more particularly adapted to be used in connection with the cutting organs of cigarette making machines.

The cutter 1 (which corresponds to part B of Fig. 1) of cutting arm 3 is held and guided between a supporting part i and a spring 5 the strength of which can be varied by means of a screw 6. The end of said cutter 1 that is opposed to its cutting edge is fixed to a block forming a nut 7 engaged on a screw 8 (corresponding to organ C, in Fig. 1) This screw is journalled in arm 3 and its rotation causes nut '7 and consequently cutter l to move longitudinally with respect to said arm 3. Screw 8 can berotated by acting on its milled head 9 (which corresponds to member D of Fig. 1).

This first movable part of the device is completed by a second stationary part mounted on the frame of the machine and made as follows:

A lever 11, urged in'the upward direction by a spring 12 and limited to two extreme positions by stops 13 and 14 is pivotally mounted on a stationary spindle 10 parallel to the plane in which the cutter is rotating.v The right-hand end of saidlever 11 is intended to. be operated by hand. The portion of said lever that extends obliquely in an upward direction on the left hand side of spindle 10 is adapted to come into engagement witha bentpawl 15 the lower end of which carries a contact roller 16 (corresponding to member H of Fig. 1) intended to limit the relative displacement of cutter 1 and arm 3.

A disk 20 (corresponding to member E of Fig. 1)

is adapted to move together with lever 11. This disk 20 isintended to turn milled knob 9, when it is brought into contact with the latter. To this effect, disk 20 may be given a rough periphery, or, better, it may carry on its periphery a tore-shaped rubber ring, which may be replaced, or merely turned about the disk when it is worn at a point. In order to ensure a better adhesion and a sufficiently elastic contact of the edge of disk 20 with milled head 9, I preferably provide an elastic connection between said disk and lever 11 instead of a rigid connection. To this effect, disk 20 is carried by an arm 18 adapted to turn freely about spindle 10 and connected to lever 11 through a spring 19. .A stop 17, carried by a'projection 21 of lever 11 causes arm 18 to turn in the direction of arrow F when lever 11 is turned in this direction. Under normal conditions of working, levers 11 and'18 are in the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. If it is assumed, at any time, that the total length of arm 3 and cutter 1 is too short, for ensuring a normal cutting of the cigarettes, it sufiices to depress lever 11 so as to bring it from its position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 into its position shown in solid lines, without modifying the working conditions of the machine. Lever 11 is locked in this position by the projection 22 of pawl 15. Stop 1'7 has turned about spindle 10 in a direction opposed to that of arrow F, so that arm 18, urged by spring 19, brings disk 20 into tangential relation to the path of travel of milled knob 9 which, at each revolution of arm, is caused to roll over a portion of the periphery of the rubber ring fitted on disk 20. 1herefore, at each revolution of blade carrier 3, screw 8 is caused to rotate through an angle corresponding to a fraction of a turn. Consequently, nut I is caused to move intermittently in a direction parallel to the axis of said screw, thus outwardly displacing cutter 1. After some revolutions, cutter 1 has been sufficiently displaced for coming into contact with roller 16. The latter is then pushed upwardly, thus causing pawl 15, through which lever 11 was locked, to pivot. Projection 22 disengages lever 11, which comes back into its initial position, under the action oiits spring. Stop 17 causes arm 18 to rotate together with lever 11. Disk 20 is displaced in the direction of arrow F and screw 8 ceases to be turned at each revolution of arm 3. Cutter 1 then remains in a fixed position with respect to arm 3.

Of course milled knob 9 might be replaced by a star wheel having a number n of radial projections, disk 20 being then replaced by a pin against which the radial projections of the star wheel are caused to strike successively, thus imparting the desired rotary movement to said star wheel.

Also, instead of having the downward movement of lever 11 performed by hand, I may provide any device (for instance controlled by an electric contact) for causing said lever to pivot automatically in a downward direction when the length of cutter 1 has diminished by a given quantity.

In a general manner, while I have described what I deem to be practical and efiicient embodiment of my invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of my invention as comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: r

1. In a machine comprising two coacting parts movable with respect to each other, the first part including two elements, a carrier and a member movably interconnected with said carrier and operative position with respect to said first mentioned means for engaging intermittently therewith so as to operatively actuate the same, means for locking the second mentioned means in operative position, and means operatively controlled by said member for tioned means out of operative position as soon as the total length of said member and its carrier has been restored to its initial value,

2. In a machine comprising two. coacting parts movable with respect to each other, the first part including two elements, a carrier and a member slidably interconnected with said carrier, and adapted to coact with the second part of the machine, a device for taking up the wear oi said member, which comprises in combination a screw bringing said second mentively actuate it, means for locking said means Y in operative position, and means operatively'controlled by said member for bringing said first mentioned means out of operative position as:

soon as the total length of said member and its carrier has been restored to its initial value.

3. A device according to claim 2 in which said rotary member consists of a milled head rigid with said screw.

4. In a machine comprising two coacting parts movable with respect to each other, the first part including two elements, to wit a carrier and a member slidably interconnected with said carrier and adapted to coact with the second part of the machine, a device for taking up the wear of said member, which comprises in combination, a screw journalled in one of said elements, a nut engaging on said screw and rigidly fixed to the other element, a rotary member angularly connected with said screw, means, movably carried by said second part of the machine and adapted to be brought into operative position across the relative path of travel of said rotary member, for engaging intermittently with said rotary member so as to operatively actuate it, a lever operatively connected with said means for controlling the position thereof with respect to said first part of the machine, elastic means for urging said lever toward the position thereof that corresponds to the inoperative position of said means, a movable locking organ adapted to maintain said lever in the position thereof that corresponds to the operative position of said first mentioned means,

and a contact member operatively connected with said locking organ and adapted to cooperate with the first mentioned member for displacing said locking organ so as to release said lever when the total length of said first mentioned member and its carrier has been restored to its initial value.

5. A device according to claim 4 in which said.

locking organ consists of a pivoted pawl adapted to engage with one end of said lever, and said contact member consists of a roller journalled in said pawl.

6. A device according to claim 2 in which the first mentioned means consist of a disc adapted to frictionally engage said rotary member.

7. A device according to claim 4 in which said first mentioned means consist of a disc carried by said lever and the edge of which is adapted. to frictionally engage said rotary member.

8. A device according to claim 4 in which said first mentioned means include a disc, an arm carrying said disc andpivoted to said lever, elastic means urging said arm toward said rotary member, a stop limiting the displacement of said arm with respect to said lever under the action of the last mentioned elastic means, and a frictional element fitted on the periphery of said disc for engaging with said rotary member.

/ GASTON L. DEBAECKER. 

